Kyle Shanahan says teams would have to convince father Mike 'very hard' to coach again

Was Mike Shanahan to the Green Bay Packers ever a real thing? Maybe not, but Kyle Shanahan shot it down anyway.

The Packers are in the market for a new head coach after firing Mike McCarthy. Mike’s son, Kyle Shanahan, now the San Francisco 49ers coach, was asked about his father and the possibility of him coaching again in Green Bay.

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“He’s retired,” Kyle Shanahan said, according to Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group. “You’d have to convince him very hard to come out of retirement. I think that window has passed for him. He’s very content with where he’s at, enjoying being a very good grandpa and annoying the heck out of my mom.”

Later, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out the first part of that quote, ending with “You’d have to convince him very hard to come out of retirement,” and it seemed like it was possible with the right pitch. Using that part of the statement put Kyle’s quotes in much different context.

Mike Shanahan has one playoff win in 20 seasons

Some coaches never totally leave the web of coaching carousel speculation. It’ll be 20 years from now and someone will mention Bill Cowher as a possibility for an open NFL job.

Shanahan mostly seems like Jon Gruden without him being in the “Monday Night Football” spotlight for years. He last coached in 2013. Since Super Bowl XXXII, John Elway’s last game 20 seasons ago, Shanahan has won one playoff game. But, like Gruden, winning a championship will always keep a coach’s name in the rumor mill. And Shanahan has two titles.

Shanahan’s layoff hasn’t been as long as Gruden’s was. But Shanahan is 66 years old. His last job, with the Washington Redskins, was full of back-and-forth drama and plenty of anonymously sourced stories about the dynamic between the Redskins and Robert Griffin III. A 2012 NFC East title there was fun, but that’s Shanahan’s only winning season since 2006.

Shanahan to Packers wasn’t speculated too much

The funny part about Kyle Shanahan’s comments getting some buzz on Wednesday is it’s hard to figure out where this all started.

Michael Lombardi of The Athletic said he thought the Packers should consider Shanahan, but he was just speculating. Mike Sando of ESPN wrote “I’d rather give someone such as [Bruce] Arians, Norv Turner or Mike Shanahan one last shot than roll the dice on finding the next Sean McVay,” but that’s not speculating it would happen either. It’s hard to find any other Shanahan-Packers speculation on the internet since McCarthy was fired Sunday night.

No matter, it’s early December, one of the most historic franchises in the NFL has a head-coaching opening for the first time in a decade, and plenty of names are sure to be tossed about. Buckle up, it’s going to be a long ride.

Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan’s window to coach has “passed,” his son said. (AP)